Clouded Skies
by ASingleMind
Summary: A spin-off to my current main story, Unknown Skies. The break-up of the Earth changed a lot of things. Chaos is growing in the dying city of Paris. An opening in the surrounding storm brings hope to a girl who refuses to fall with the fate of her beloved citadel.


Clouded Skies, Chapter, one-shot?

Paris always tasted like a forgotten flavor just perched on the tip of your tongue. It hinted something new with the same familiarity Paris always promised me. It smelled of golden imagery while reeking of warm exhaust fumes. The patter of rain fell against the congregations of commuters and lover's quarrels. The rhythm, pulse of the city was always the same, and with it always brought us back to our regrets. Parisians have always been familiar with the soul of the city. It was why we could never love another such as Paris, our beautiful citadel. Uneven cobblestone paved our way where others tried to order it, as if to boldly insist that the spirit could be confined by straightened sidewalks.

Paris stood proud in its history, through all times I could remember. Against tumultuous storms, wars, and us ourselves, our landmarks remained unchanged. The people had no sway in the way of Paris. But when the rest of the world moved to the wind, the people were blown with it. The layer of dust that made them shifted and settled anew over the streets. Over time it grew, first in hundredths, and then in thousandths and then more, slowly burying our Paris. It muffled the melody that we had followed.

Our gunshots became hot, flighty, electrics in suit with the rest of the world. Our cars flew off the streets, no longer feeling the uncertain roads beneath them. There was no beat to our walk. We were 'progressing' they said, but how could we leave what had raised us? Paris was dirty and unclean. I could longer see the green I had as a child. It became neutral in my vision, between the blue and golden hues. Perhaps that was why Paris shook with such anger that day. Maybe Peter had been right. The end was nigh, the end was nigh...but I had never understood the deep religion that rooted our city. His words had fallen on ears tuned to a different message.

Now there was a cataclysm between all Parisians. The dust fell into the chasm, the heart of the city was exposed, and it bleated drastically in its final moments. Some thought it was an awakening, to some the ending had already passed and fell with the dust..The father cried for forgiveness and redemption in all, to cast away our flying machines that had cursed us. The mother told us to hold our heads in our hands and raise them high above the calamity. The rest flocked to their sides of the canyons, turning away from themselves and each other.

With the final beat, chaos sprung from the belly of Paris to consume us. Our landscape was surrounded by the wrath of a storm that tore apart our machines. In its likeliness we tore each other apart for food, water, a quiet moment.

Then there was a small, ever short, _breath. _ The light that had given Paris its golden hue graced us briefly. At the peak I could see a slimmer of blue sky that I had not seen for what seemed like years. Everything had been so dim for so long...or was it just my eyes?

My lips were dry and cracked when I found the last ship. It was somehow untouched by the followers of Peter, but I didn't give it enough thought to wonder why. It might have been better if I had. The ignition had been the trigger for another storm.

"Stop there, girl. You know not what you do." he preached. His fear made me sick with sorrow. "I knew you would come to us eventually if we left just one." I berated myself for not pausing to wonder how a single working ship found itself amongst all the broken ones. He grimaced as the ignition peaked.

"I've heard enough."

"It was us who brought this disaster upon us. Do you not hear the grumbling of those who would lead us astray in the makings of that atrocity?" The ignition remained unchanged.

"I hear a frightened man rambling about fate."

"It is not unfair to be scared, but that I am not. I know what can save us from ourselves."

"You expect me to wait and die from thirst, starvation, or maybe even you?"

"We must accept the fact that we have fallen from light. The storm the rages around us draws closer everyday."

"Death?"

"Redemption."

"That's what I thought." I plowed through, ignoring the shrapnel of the metal door of the ship bay. I only hoped that the light that had given me momentum would return before I was found. I was lucky. It took only another day for the break in the storm to return. But there were others who chose to find their survival outside of the confines of a dead city. They rose to the light with me, from all other blocks. The winds were fierce. Success would be inhuman. To those we had left behind we were devils riding the wind to our deaths. They were right, many, many times over as we climbed. I was the only one who made it through before it closed.

The light outside deafened me. I was stunned into silence as I shut by eyes against the sun. When I opened them I was careening toward a small block fragment. Pulling out of the dive I could see that the open sky stretched as far as I could see. Had only Paris survived? I chose a direction and set the ship to cruise. As I drifted through clouds, my weariness caught up with me. I spent the rest of the day fighting off sleep.

I later found myself opening my eyes to an unfamiliar skyline. I could see a land broken around a curve that crept along the horizon. There were cottage homes, and most importantly, people. I landed at the first home with more than one person I saw.

I expected them to be wary when I landed, but they were far from it. There was no panic that darkened their eyes, only an earnest hope as they welcomed me with questions.

"I'm...from Paris." I said slowly, in English. They immediately smiled and responded in kind.

"This is...well, we call it Babylonia. We have quite a varied group out of what's left." So I wasn't the first to drift in. "We're so glad to see someone from as far away as France survived." The women said.

"I'm not even sure how far away it really is now." said the man standing beside her.

"Is there anybody else with you?" the women continued. I froze.

"...no." I said simply. They nodded.

"We've heard stories of other blocks. Did the..."

"Sphere."

"Yes, the Sphere. Did they come to your block too?" I shook by head. "I see." I decided it was worth explaining.

"Paris is surrounded by some kind of storm. Rips apart anything that tries to fly through...there's an opening that appears once in while. That's how I got out." They were surprised.

"Really? This is the first of this kind of thing happening to a block..."

"But we also wouldn't hear about it if they couldn't leave." the man pointed out.

"True." I just nodded.

"My name is John by the way." the main said, outstretching a worn hand.

"And I'm Elizabeth." the women joined in. "I'm guessing you plan on staying a while?' I nodded. I hadn't actually thought about what I would do if I found any kind of civilization outside of the storm barrier. I turned back to the ship that had carried me here, looking it over. I hadn't really thought much about it when I was making my escape. The cockpit was a small orb compartment that was attached to a larger storage area attached. A wing on each side stretched outwards horizontally with two large thrusters underneath

"I don't have much, but this ship can carry things. Probably people to."

"We appreciate it. I'm guessing it uses old fuel?" the women asked. I nodded.

"We'll have to work on that. A friend of mine who was developing alternative sources before the break-up has already made some modifications to my old car." Again, I nodded. "We'd like to get everyone together to figure out what we want to do. Someone from the Sphere is already here, but they've had trouble rallying people." Elizabeth explain. John rolled his eyes.

"They keep going on about a new government. We're far from ready for that right now."

"They're just trying to help."

"And I find it suspicious. The reek of the scum we had before."

"John..."

"It's alright." I said. Before the break-up, some world leaders had been making announcement about unifying certain countries under new policies. Their people had reacted badly.

"Is there anything we'd like us to call you?" the women said kindly. I thought about it for a moment.

"Aurelia is fine."

**...Never let me do something like this again. And my apologies to anyone reading this who lives in France/Paris. I don't speak French whatsoever.**

**Unknown Skies isn't dead, just writing this out for some back story for a character**.


End file.
